Homeowner finds huge abandoned model railway in back garden
Lauren Chessum, 35, is a self-professed model railway 'newbie' – but she's putting everything into restoring the unique feature in her Derbyshire back garden.
When most homeowners move into a new property, they expect to find a few bits and bobs left behind – perhaps a couple of appliances or old cleaning supplies. But most people wouldn't expect to find a giant 150m model railway track buried in the undergrowth of their new back garden.
Lauren Chessum uncovered just that after moving into her 4-bedroom detached home in Derbyshire in November - and she's been unearthing more and more track as she tidies up the back yard. She's now on a mission to restore the track to a working state and has gained her more than 13,000 followers on TikTok who are eager to see her dream turn into a reality.
Lauren told Yahoo News UK: "We've found around 150-200 metres, at a guess, and it could be more, as there're a lot of double lines you just can't see at the moment.
"I'm a complete newbie to this - I have no idea what I'm doing but I am winging it - but the people of TikTok are full of so much useful information."
Lauren was aware of at least one section of railway track from when she and her husband Sean came to view the property, but much of it was covered by a huge bush at the time, and she had no idea how much was lying further back in the garden.
"I'm still uncovering more. I'll find some tracks buried in the mud," she says.
"I think because the garden's full of trees and because it hasn't been maintained for so long, the leaves are falling and it's composting, and every year it's getting a little bit deeper.
"It's like I'm excavating it. Every time I find more and think the track might be missing, I find it further down in the mud."
When Lauren and Sean, both 35, moved from a housing estate in Derby to their new home near the village of Morley, they had a lot of tidying up to do, both in the house itself and the garden.
The previous owner, a model train enthusiast named Frank Hammersley, was an elderly man who lived alone, having lost his wife and child, meaning not enough maintenance was being carried out on the property before he passed away in his nineties.
Lauren is considering ways to pay tribute to Frank after restoring his track to its former glory - such as a station or train named after him.
"I would love to have seen what it looked like, once upon a time. People keep saying they've seen it working on TV but I've been looking for footage and I haven't found it yet."
It's still fairly early days for Lauren, who has been carefully cleaning the tracks using a dustpan and brush, and a leaf blower, claiming a pressure washer could blow some sections of railway across the garden.
"I joke on my videos that it's like carrying out an archaeological dig, because you're meticulously being so careful not to damage anything as you uncover it," she adds.
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Before moving into her new home, Lauren wasn't especially into model trains compared to Sean, who works as an engineer.
"The train track is what sold this house for my husband. He thought, 'this is it', as soon as he saw it. He's never actually built a model train set, but he's always wanted to. He likes his model cars and stuff like that."
After moving in, Sean agreed to focus on restoring the house itself, while Lauren worked on the garden, which allowed her newfound enthusiasm for model railways to blossom.
"I have this image of sitting there in 20 years' time waiting for a train to bring me another drink," adds Lauren, who stays at home to look after her two children.
'Overwhelming' response from model railway community
Lauren's three-year-old son is already having fun playing with his Hot Wheels on the tracks, and she thinks her 16-year-old son, who is autistic and non-verbal is going to be "so excited" once a train is up and running.
A few parts of track do appear to be missing for reasons that are unclear, meaning Lauren and Sean may have to spend about £60 per metre replacing those sections.
Rather than settling for cheaper battery powered trains, they plan on buying mini-steam trains for the railway, which can cost upwards of £1,000 each.
Lauren has received some useful pointers from members of staff at her local model shop and plenty of model train enthusiasts online.
One hobbyist with a fully functioning model railway in his garden, who Lauren had got in touch with online, offered some words of encouragement, telling her: "Keep up the hard work and this will be yours. You'll be doing this before you know it."
Lauren adds: "I've had people online offering to send a train little to build a bridge for where the bridge is missing. It's incredible and so lovely, so I will definitely take them up on that if they are willing to help with that."
As for the physical work itself, however, Lauren is quite content doing most of it herself, with a bit of help from some friends who've offered to help.
While the response to her project online has been "overwhelming" and largely positive, Lauren says there have been a few "disheartening" comments, with some people calling the tracks and "eyesore" that she should "rip up".
"That just makes me want to do it even more to be honest," she says. "This guy has poured his heart and soul into this, and it'd be such a shame for it to never run again."
